Happy Saturday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another review/reaction of this week’s Daredevil: Born Again episode, “The Grand Design.” Today’s post will resemble last week’s in that it’ll be more of a reaction than a full review. Again, I only watched “The Grand Design” a single time (not my typical two or three), but again, this week’s episode remained focused on its principal characters–maybe even more so than last week–and that’s a great development.
I may have been too hasty to pronounce Venessa Fisk deceased last week. But spoilers, she perishes “for real” at the end of “The Grand Design.” This delay gave Daredevil: Born Again the chance to give Venessa the send-off she deserved, and it managed to still lead to a great shock. Perhaps others felt otherwise, but “The Grand Design” lulled me into a false sense of security. Venessa pulled through. I began to think she’s going to make it, and some other event will need to occur to fully unleash The Kingpin. Not so fast.
Venessa’s passing away this way may invoke more trauma within Wilson. The acting was brilliant. The moments between Wilson and Venessa show why they’re a great couple. While I’ll be sad to see her go, I can’t wait to see Kingpin channel his rage toward Bullseye and Daredevil. Oh. There will be a reckoning.
Daredevil and Bullseye share several heart-to-heart talks. These scenes very much remind me of the ones between The Punisher and Daredevil in the original Netflix Daredevil. I mentioned that last week, but it bears repeating. And yet, “The Grand Design’s” emotional center plays out through Daredevil, or rather Matt Murdock, flashbacks with Foggy Nelson. Typically, I don’t care for an abundance of flashback scenes, but they work in “The Grand Design.” Daredevil’s remembering Foggy parallels Kingpin’s journey with Venessa. And like Wilson and Venessa’s flashbacks informing the present-day action, Foggy’s moral code informs Matt’s actions.
Honestly, “The Grand Design” is the farewell I wanted for Foggy over a year ago. I’ve said this before, too, but again, it bears repeating. It’s not that Daredevil: Born Again can’t kill off popular characters; it matters how the show does the deed. Fans got to say goodbye to Foggy. Finally! Matt was forced to reflect on WWFD. What Would Foggy Do? Foggy’s influence caused Daredevil to return for Bullseye. Foggy was the one who preached mercy. Sure. At times, Daredevil: Born Again delivers this message in a ham-fisted way, but the message was important. These scenes showed why Foggy was important.
Returning to the here and now, Blake and Buck make an unconventional tandem. It’s clear the two actors portraying these characters have chemistry. And yes, we receive Buck flashbacks during “The Grand Design.” Like I said, this episode leaned heavily on flashbacks. Anyway, I’ve praised Gandolfini’s (Daniel Blake) performance in the past, and he brought it again this week. Gandolfini’s acting sold the rising tension. Sorry. Gandolfini and Arty Froushan (Buck) sold this rising tension. It’s a joy watching these two switch from a cat-and-mouse game of intentions to mutual respect and friendship. Heck. They manage to portray both facets of these relationship at the same time.
And that brings me back to Daredevil: Born Again’s acting. With a handful of exceptions, it’s superb. The actors care about their characters. They understand what makes them tick. From an action standpoint, very little happens during “The Grand Design’s” runtime, but it doesn’t matter. This episode is the calm before the Kingpin storm. Daredevil: Born Again is about to get loud. My only concern is that the show may begin to lose focus. These past two weeks were great, but I know Jessica Jones is about to make her MCU debut. While I can’t wait to see Ritter reprise the role, I wonder how Daredevil: Born Again will fit in Jones. She’ll need more than the cameo The Punisher received last year. The Punisher is getting his own special in a month. Correct me if I’m wrong, but The Punisher appeared before Daredevil: Born Again season one’s midway point last year. Can the show squeeze in Jones, especially since we’ll be seeing full-throated Kingpin?
Daredevil: Born Again also sidelined multiple characters like BB, Kingpin’s staff, and even Karen Page the past couple of episodes. Kingpin may not be the only one making noise in the season’s final three episodes. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
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